Series Connected Segmented LED

ABSTRACT

A light source and method for making the same are disclosed. The light source includes a conducting substrate, and a light emitting structure that is divided into segments. The light emitting structure includes a first layer of semiconductor material of a first conductivity type deposited on the substrate, an active layer overlying the first layer, and a second layer of semiconductor material of an opposite conductivity type from the first conductivity type overlying the active layer. A barrier divides the light emitting structure into first and second segments that are electrically isolated from one another. A serial connection electrode connects the first layer in the first segment to the second layer in the second segment. A power contact is electrically connected to the second layer in the first segment, and a second power contact electrically connected to the first layer in the second segment.

BACKGROUND

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are an important class of solid-state devices that convert electric energy to light Improvements in these devices have resulted in their use in light fixtures designed to replace conventional incandescent and fluorescent light sources. The LEDs have significantly longer lifetimes and, in some cases, significantly higher efficiency for converting electric energy to light.

For the purposes of this discussion, an LED can be viewed as having three layers, the active layer sandwiched between two other layers. The active layer emits light when holes and electrons from the outer layers combine in the active layer. The holes and electrons are generated by passing a current through the LED. In one common configuration, the LED is powered through an electrode that overlies the top layer and a contact that provides an electrical connection to the bottom layer.

The cost of LEDs and the power conversion efficiency are important factors in determining the rate at which this new technology will replace conventional light sources and be utilized in high power applications. The conversion efficiency of an LED is defined to be the ratio of optical power emitted by the LED in the desired region of the optical spectrum to the electrical power dissipated by the light source. The electrical power that is dissipated depends on the conversion efficiency of the LEDs and the power lost by the circuitry that converts AC power to a DC source that can be used to directly power the LED dies. Electrical power that is not converted to light that leaves the LED is converted to heat that raises the temperature of the LED. Heat dissipation often places a limit on the power level at which an LED operates. In addition, the conversion efficiency of the LED decreases with increasing current; hence, while increasing the light output of an LED by increasing the current increases the total light output, the electrical conversion efficiency is decreased by this strategy. In addition, the lifetime of the LED is also decreased by operation at high currents. Finally, resistive losses in the conductors that route the current to the light emitting area and in the highly resistive p-layer of the LED increase rapidly with increasing current. Hence, there is an optimum current.

The driving voltage of an LED is set by the materials used to make the LED and is typically of the order of 3 volts for GaN-based LEDs. A typical light source requires multiple LEDs, as a single LED running at the optimum current does not generate enough light for many applications. The LEDs can be connected in parallel, series, or a combination of both. If the LEDs are connected in parallel, the driving voltage is low, typically of the order of 3 volts, and the current requirements are high. Hence, series connections are preferred to avoid the power losses inherent in such high current arrangements. In addition, converting the AC power source available in most applications to the DC source needed to drive the LEDs is significantly cheaper if the output driving voltage of the power supply is closer to the AC source amplitude. Accordingly, arrangements in which the LEDs are connected in series to provide a higher driving voltage for the array are preferred.

The series connections are either provided by wiring that connects the individual LEDs in the light source or by fabricating the LEDs in an array on an insulating substrate and electrically isolating each LED from the surrounding LEDs. Serial connection electrodes in this later case are then provided between the isolated LEDs by utilizing photolithographic methods. While the second method has the potential of providing reduced packaging costs, it is limited to fabrication systems in which the LED layers are grown on an insulating substrate such as sapphire so that the individual LEDs can be isolated by providing an insulating barrier such as a trench that extends down to the substrate between the individual LEDs.

There are significant cost advantages associated with fabricating LEDs on certain non-insulating substrates such as silicon wafers. Conventional fabrication lines are optimized for silicon wafers. In addition, silicon wafers are significantly cheaper than sapphire wafers. Finally, the process of singulating the individual light sources from a silicon wafer is substantially easier than the corresponding singulation process in a sapphire-based system. Accordingly, a method for generating series connected LEDs on silicon wafers or other conducting substrates is needed.

SUMMARY

The present invention includes a light source and method for making the same. The light source includes a light emitting structure that is bonded to an electrically conducting substrate. The light emitting structure includes a first layer of semiconductor material of a first conductivity type overlying the substrate, an active layer overlying the first layer, and a second layer of semiconductor material of an opposite conductivity type from the first conductivity type overlying the active layer. A barrier divides the light emitting structure into first and second segments that are electrically isolated from one another. A connection electrode connects the first layer in the first segment to the second layer in the second segment. A mirror is in electrical contact with the first layer in each of the segments, the connection electrode connecting the mirror in the first segment to the second layer in the second segment. The substrate includes first and second isolation regions that electrically isolate the mirror in the first and second segments from each other. The light source can be constructed from GaN semiconductor layers (GaN semiconductor layers include all alloys of AlInGaN) deposited on silicon substrates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a light source.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the light source shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3-7 illustrate the manner in which a light source according to one embodiment is fabricated.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment in which the exposed n-face has been etched after the growth substrate has been removed.

FIGS. 9-13 illustrate the fabrication of a serially-connected light source according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The manner in which the present invention provides its advantages can be more easily understood with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, which illustrate a prior art series connected GaN-based LED light source. FIG. 1 is a top view of light source 60, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of light source 60 through line 2-2 shown in FIG. 1. Light source 60 includes two segments 64 and 65; however, it will be apparent from the following discussion that light sources having many more segments can be constructed using the same design. Light source 60 is constructed from a three-layer LED structure in which the layers are grown on a sapphire substrate 51. The n-layer 52 is grown on substrate 51, and then the active layer 55 and p-layer 53 are grown over n-layer 52. Those skilled in the art understand that these layers may be comprised of sublayers, and that in practice LEDs have many other layers. For the purpose of this patent “overlying” layers means the layers may be touching or there may be intermediate layers between them.

The segments 64 and 65 are separated by an isolation trench 66 that extends through layer 52 to substrate 51 thereby electrically isolating segments 64 and 65. Isolation trench 66 includes a plateau 67 that extends only partially into layer 52. The walls of isolation trench 66 are covered by an insulating layer 57 that includes an open area 58 for making electrical contact to the portion of layer 52 associated with each segment. Insulating layer 57 can be constructed from any material that provides an insulating layer that is free of pinhole defects. For example, SiOx or SiNx can be used as the insulating material. Other materials can include polyimide, BCB, spin-on-glass and materials that are routinely used in the semiconductor industry for device planarization.

Similar trenches are provided on the ends of light source 60 as shown at 68 and 69. A serial connection electrode 59 is deposited in isolation trench 66 such that electrode 59 makes contact with layer 52 through opening 58 in insulating layer 57. Electrode 59 also makes electrical contact with ITO layer 56 in the adjacent segment. Hence, when power is provided via electrodes 61 and 62, segments 64 and 65 are connected in series. As a result, light source 60 operates at twice the voltage and half the current of two similar LEDs connected in parallel

Insulating layer 57 extends under electrodes 59 and 61 as shown at 57 a in FIG. 2. Since electrode 59 is opaque, electrode 59 blocks light generated in the portion of active layer 55 immediately underlying electrode 59. In this regard, it should be noted that the thickness of the layers shown in the figures is not to scale. In practice, the thickness of layer 53 is much smaller than that of layer 52, and hence, electrode 59 blocks most of the light that is generated under electrode 59. Accordingly, current that passes through layer 55 under electrode 59 is substantially wasted, since most of the light generated by that current is lost. The insulating layer extension blocks current from flowing through this wasted area of layer 55, and hence, improves the overall efficiency of the light source. A similar issue is present under electrode 61, and hence, the insulating layer is extended under that electrode as well.

The above-described construction technique depends on substrate 51 being an insulator and providing a good etch stop during the generation of the trenches. If substrate 51 were a conducting substrate such as a silicon wafer, the two LED segments would not be isolated from one another. Hence, this technique presents challenges when the LED structure is formed on a conducting substrate. As pointed out above, there are significant advantages in utilizing a silicon substrate for forming the LED structure. The present invention provides a mechanism that allows the LED structure to form on a silicon substrate while still providing the benefits of a monolithic LED structure having a plurality of segments connected in series.

Refer now to FIGS. 3-7, which illustrate the manner in which a light source according to one embodiment of the present invention is fabricated. Refer to FIG. 3. Initially, the n-layer 22, active layer 23, and p-layer 24 are deposited on a silicon substrate 21. The substrate 21 is preferably a <111> substrate. The n-layer may include one or more buffer layers that facilitate the growth of the GaN family layers on the silicon substrate. Examples of buffer layers include MN, AlGaN, AlxGal-xN, and combinations thereof. A layer of silver-based metallization is patterned over the regions of the p-layer that are within the LEDs to provide both a mirror and a p-contact. These mirror are shown at 25. To protect the silver, a layer of a barrier metal such as platinum is deposited over the silver as shown at 26. Alternatively, barrier layers of titanium (Ti), titanium-tungsten (TiW), or titanium-tungsten-nitride (TiWN) can be used. These layers are then covered with an insulating layer 27 that includes a dielectric material. Finally, a bonding metallic layer 28 is deposited over insulating layer 27. AuSn can be utilized as the bonding material; however, other materials could also be utilized.

Refer now to FIG. 4, which illustrates the next step in the fabrication process. In this step, the wafer is inverted and positioned over a substrate 31 which is covered by a layer 32 of the bonding metal such as AuSn. Substrate 31 can be constructed from any of a number of materials; however, a second silicon substrate is preferred to facilitate the handling of the wafer in a conventional fabrication facility. To reduce cost, substrate 31 is preferably a <100> wafer. After the two structures are pressed together and bonded, wafer 21 is removed by etching, chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), grinding, or combinations thereof. Other suitable process can also be used. The wafers can be pressed together and bonded using bonding techniques that include eutectic metals. The resultant structure is shown in FIG. 5.

Refer now to FIG. 6, which illustrates the next step in the fabrication process. After substrate 21 is removed, the three LED layers are etched down to metal layer 26 as shown at 35 to form a trench that ends on metal layer 26. Etching is preferably performed using wet chemical etching with an acid such as phosphoric acid, but can also be done with other wet etchants or by ICP (inductively coupled plasma) etching, or RIE (reactive ion etching). An insulting layer is formed on one wall of the LED layer stack to protect the sidewall of the stack from contacting the serial connection electrodes that are deposited next. SiNx or SiOx are the preferred insulators for layer 34; however, other materials could be utilized provided the layers are sufficiently thick to protect the p-layer and active layer from shorting to the n-layer.

Refer now to FIG. 7, which is a cross-sectional view of the final series-connected LED light source 40. A metal layer is patterned over the structure shown in FIG. 6 to provide a plurality of series connection electrodes 37 that connect the p-layer in one LED to the n-layer in the adjacent LED. An n-contact 39 and a p-contact 38 are formed on the two end LEDs and are used to power the light source.

It should be noted that top surface of light source 40 is the n-GaN surface with the n-face exposed. This surface is easily etched to provide scattering features that enhance the extraction of light from the LEDs. In the conventional series-connected arrangement shown above in FIGS. 1 and 2, the exposed surface is the Ga face of the p-GaN layer. The Ga face is more resistant to etching. In addition, the p-GaN layer is preferably as thin as possible to reduce the power losses in the p-GaN material, which has a significantly higher resistivity than the n-GaN material. Accordingly, this embodiment of the present invention provides additional benefits in terms of light extraction efficiency. The etching can be performed at the stage shown in FIG. 5 in which the growth substrate has been removed. Refer now to FIG. 8, which illustrates an embodiment in which the exposed n-face has been etched after the growth substrate has been removed. In this case, the top surface of layer 22 is etched to provide scattering features 22 a. The scattering features preferably have dimensions that are larger than the wavelength of light generated by the LED. The remaining processing of the wafer is substantially the same as that described above with reference to FIGS. 6-7.

As noted above, heat dissipation is a consideration in LED-based light sources. Hence, substrate 31 is preferably a good heat conductor. Silicon is a good heat conductor, and hence, embodiments that utilize silicon wafers for the mounting substrate have additional advantages. The heat transfer characteristics of a light source according to the present invention can be further improved by eliminating the layer of insulator shown at 27 in the above-described embodiments. Refer now to FIGS. 9-12, which illustrate the fabrication of a serially-connected light source according to another embodiment of the present invention. The construction of light source 90 begins in a manner analogous to that discussed above, except that the insulating layer 27 is omitted. The layer of bonding metal 28 is applied directly over metal layer 26. Trench 71 is then cut down to the p-layer 24 as shown at 71 in FIG. 9.

The growth substrate is inverted and positioned relative to a second wafer 73 that is a p-type silicon wafer with a plurality of n-type wells 74 as shown in FIG. 10. Each n-type well 74 is positioned under a corresponding one of the LED segments and is covered with a layer of bonding metal 74 a that is used to bond to the corresponding layer on the LED segments. The n-type wells isolate the LED segments from one another, and hence, insulating layer 27 discussed above is not needed. The two wafers are then bonded utilizing the metal layers. Finally, substrate 21 is removed leaving the structure shown in FIG. 11.

Refer now to FIG. 12. Trenches 77 are cut to divide the LED layers into a plurality of segments. The trenches extend down to the barrier metal layer 79. An insulating layer 78 is then deposited to protect the edge of each segment from the subsequent metal deposition that forms the serial connection electrodes that are shown in FIG. 13. The insulating layer can be constructed from any material that provides an insulating layer that is free of pinhole defects. For example, SiNx can be used as the insulating material. Other materials can include polyimide, BCB, and glass. Power contacts 81 and 82 are also deposited when the serial connection electrodes are formed as part of the same patterned metal deposition process.

The above-described embodiments utilize GaN semiconductor layers. However, it is to be understood that other materials could be utilized. For example, the LED layers could be constructed from other members of the GaN family of materials. For the purposes of this discussion, the GaN family of materials is defined to be all alloy compositions of GaN, InN and AlN. However, embodiments that utilize other material systems and substrates can also be constructed according to the teachings of the present invention. The present invention is particularly well suited to GaN-based LEDs on silicon substrates. It should be noted that the final mounting substrate need not be a semiconductor. For example, a metallic substrate could be utilized. Such substrates are significantly less expensive than silicon and provide significantly greater heat conductivity. The above-described embodiments utilize silicon substrates for the final device because such substrates are routinely handled in conventional semiconductor fabrication facilities while still providing good heat conduction.

The above-described embodiments have utilized a three layer LED structure. However, it is to be understood that each of these layers could include a plurality of sub-layers.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention have been provided to illustrate various aspects of the present invention. However, it is to be understood that different aspects of the present invention that are shown in different specific embodiments can be combined to provide other embodiments of the present invention. In addition, various modifications to the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Accordingly, the present invention is to be limited solely by the scope of the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A light source comprising an electrically-conducting substrate; a light emitting structure comprising: a first layer of semiconductor material of a first conductivity type overlying said substrate; an active layer overlying said first layer; and a second layer of semiconductor material of an opposite conductivity type from said first conductivity type overlying said active layer; a barrier that divides said light emitting structure into first and second segments that are electrically isolated from one another; a connection electrode that connects said first layer in said first segment to said second layer in said second segment; and a mirror in electrical contact with said first layer in each of said segments, said connection electrode connecting said mirror in said first segment to said second layer in said second segment, wherein said substrate comprises first and second isolation regions that electrically isolate said mirror in said first and second segments from each other.
 2. The light source of claim 1 further comprising: a first power contact electrically connected to said second layer in said first segment; and a second power contact electrically connected to said first layer in said second segment, wherein said first and second segments generate light when a potential difference is created between said first and second power contacts.
 3. The light source of claim 1 wherein said isolation regions comprise an insulating layer between said mirror and said electrically-conducting substrate.
 4. The light source of claim 1 wherein said electrically-conducting substrate comprises a semiconductor material of a first conductivity type and said isolation regions comprises a region of a second conductivity type in said semiconductor material.
 5. The light source of claim 1 wherein said electrically-conducting substrate is bonded to said light emitting structure by a layer of metal.
 6. The light source of claim 1 wherein said first layer comprises a p-type GaN family member.
 7. The light source of claim 1 wherein said electrically-conducting substrate comprises a silicon wafer.
 8. The light source of claim 1 wherein said first semiconductor layer comprises a n-type GaN family member.
 9. A method for fabricating a light source, said method comprising depositing a light emitting structure on a first substrate, said light emitting structure comprising: a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type deposited on said substrate; an active layer overlying said first layer; and a second semiconductor layer of an opposite conductivity type from said first conductivity type overlying said active layer; patterning a metallic mirror layer over said second layer and in electrical contact therewith; depositing a metallic bonding layer overlying said mirror layer; bonding said metallic layer to a second substrate; removing said first substrate thereby exposing said first semiconductor layer; generating a barrier that divides said light emitting structure into first and second segments that are electrically isolated from one another; and depositing a serial connection electrode that connects said first layer in said first segment to said second layer in said second segment.
 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising depositing a first power contact electrically connected to said second layer in said first segment; and a second power contact electrically connected to said first layer in said second segment, wherein said first and second segments generate light when a potential difference is created between said first and second power contacts.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein said second substrate comprises first and second isolation regions that electrically isolate said mirror in said first and second segments from each other.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said isolation regions comprise an insulating layer between said mirror and said second substrate.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein said second substrate comprises a semiconductor material of a first conductivity type and said isolation region comprises a region of a second conductivity type in said semiconductor material.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein said first substrate comprises a silicon wafer.
 15. The method of claim 9 wherein said second substrate comprises a silicon wafer.
 16. The method of claim 9 wherein said first semiconductor layer comprises a n-type GaN family member. 